The Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers (also known as NWOSU Rangers) are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern Oklahoma State University, located in

Alva, Oklahoma Alva is a city in and the county seat of Woods County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Salt Fork Arkansas River. The population was 4,945 at the 2010 census. Northwestern Oklahoma State University is located in Alva. History Alva was estab ...

, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Great American Conference The Great American Conference (GAC) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level, with headquarters located in Russellvill ...

(GAC) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Rangers previously competed in the

Sooner Athletic Conference The Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Originally developed as a five-team conference of Oklahoma-based schools, the SAC now boasts 12 sc ...

of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) from 2001–02 to 2011–12; in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) from 1998–99 to 2000–01; as an NAIA Independent during the 1997–98 school year; in the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) from 1974–75 to 1996–97.

Move to NCAA Division II

On May 11, 2011, Northwestern Oklahoma State announced that they had accepted an invitation to the

for all sports in the 2012–13 academic year and would begin their transition from the NAIA to

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

. On July 12, 2011, Northwestern Oklahoma State University was denied admittance into the NCAA Division II Membership Process for the 2011–12 cycle; the school was accepted into the membership process one year later. Schools must complete a membership process, spanning 3 years, before gaining active status and becoming eligible for championship competition. On July 17, 2015 the NCAA announced that effective September 1, 2015, the school had become active Division II members.

Varsity teams

NWOSU competes in 16 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf and rodeo; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, golf, rodeo, soccer, softball and volleyball.

Softball

The Ranger softball team appeared in one

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

in 1976.

Track and field

On January 26, 2018, following a 30-year absence from competition, Northwestern Director of Athletics Brad Franz announced that the school would be adding women's track & field to its varsity sports. The team competed in its first event February 1, 2019, at the Wichita State Invitational under head coach Jill Lancaster.

Alumni

* Patrick Crayton –

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

player (

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

) (

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

) *

Mike Hargrove Dudley Michael Hargrove (born October 26, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. He is currently employed as an advisor with the Cleveland Guardians. Hargrove batted and threw left-handed. He played for the Texas Rang ...

–

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player/manager *

Bryan Henderson Bryan Henderson (born April 11, 1977) is a former American football defensive lineman who played six seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Arizona Rattlers, Austin Wranglers, Utah Blaze, Kansas City Brigade, Grand Rapids Rampage a ...

–

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

player * Ron Moore –

player (

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

) * Chip Myers –

player (

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

) *

Gaylon Nickerson Gaylon Harrel Nickerson (born February 5, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues. Born in Osceola, Arkansas, he attended Wichita State University, Butle ...

–

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

player * Gary Porter –

player Texas Terror *

Lynn Scott Lynn Scott (born June 23, 1977) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Early years Scott attended Turpin High School, wh ...

–

player (

) * Brian Sochia –

player (Miami and Denver) * Korey Williams –

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

player (

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

)

References

External links

* {{Oklahoma college sports